JSMN Trailers
by GoldenMewtwo
Summary: A brief look at each of the main characters of a story that I'll be starting hopefully next year. Each chapter is a short story detailing an encounter one of them had with one of the girls of Team RWBY, as well as a character profile looking into their backstory and abilities. (The first is pre-Volume 4, the rest between Volumes 4-5).
1. Jacqueline

_"Never underestimate your power to change yourself; never overestimate your power to change others."-H. Jackson Brown Jr._

* * *

Seven days. A single week. It may not seem like much time, but when the world seems to be falling apart around you, seven days is a miserable amount of time to be out of contact from your closest friends.

That was months ago that she'd had that thought.

Jacqueline cursed to herself as she trudged down the road to the next town, slowly making her way towards the next step of her journey. All she had to do was make it to the port, catch a ship to Menagerie. The rest of her team would meet her there. That was where they had planned to join back up.

But then, that was before Beacon fell and communications in Vale were cut off. She hadn't been able to contact the others and figure out if they were okay. She was sure they were. They had to be. If they weren't...

'No, stop!' Jacqueline shook her head. 'No negative thinking. That'll just bring more delays. More...' Her ears picked up the sound of growling, somewhere behind her. 'More of THEM.'

Jacqueline's hands dropped to her waist, pushing her long forest green jacket aside. Gripping the twin long-handled mallets holstered there, her green eyes shifted to the side, checking to make sure there was nothing else around her. She tightened her stance and shifted to look behind her.

With a vicious snarl, a Beowulf came leaping from the trees, its eyes shining red in the darkness. Spinning with a practiced fluidity, she dodged aside as its claws hit the ground directly where she had been standing. In the same motion, she whipped her weapons out, clicking their handles together to form a double-ended hammerstaff. Spinning the weapon, she brought one of its heads down on the Beowulf before it could react, hearing a satisfying crack as its neck snapped. The Grimm dropped to the ground as its body started to smoke away.

The sound of gunfire caught Jacqueline's attention as she rested the weapon on her shoulder. Turning, she could see that there was a town nearby. And from the sound of it, there was a battle going on at the moment. She listened to another shot.

"Hmm. Sniper rifle, high-impact." she identified. "Sounds a bit off from the usual brands; probably custom-made. And that probably means Huntsmen."

She took off in a run towards the sound, her coat and shoulder-length raven hair flying behind her. The closer she got, the more sounds reached her. First more gunshots, still that same weapon, then growls, snarls, and screeches from various Grimm, and eventually, as she hit the edge of the town, the slashing whoosh of a weapon swinging. It took her a moment to identify.

'Scythe. Don't see many of those.' Jacqueline thought to herself.

Rounding a corner, she skidded to a halt and took in the scene before her. There was a swarm of Grimm in this town, several different varieties of them, and fighting them off, a single young Huntress.

Jacqueline watched her for a moment as she fought against the collection of soulless monsters, dashing from one to the other in a blur of rose petals. Her scythe cleaved the dark monsters in two with ease and she never stayed in one place for very long, keeping herself hard for the Grimm to hit. Sometimes, her weapon would transform into a sniper rifle and the Huntress would fire it, using its recoil to launch herself as she gunned down the beasts.

Looking up, Jacqueline spotted a Nevermore descending towards the girl from behind. She was too occupied with the Grimm in front of her to react even if she heard it coming. Growling, Jacqueline dropped her weapon long enough to throw off her jacket, leaving her clad in only an olive-green tanktop and black pants with a green stripe down each side of each leg. The coat was great for keeping warm while walking, but it would just get in her way now. Snatching her weapon back up, she ran to meet the swooping Grimm.

Splitting her weapons back into their separated form, she pointed them both back and down. The red crystals in their hilts glowed for a moment, Fire Dust activating and unleashing a scorching blast that propelled her upwards. Sailing over the Nevermore's head, she flipped her mallets up and used their jet blast to fire back down onto its oversized beak, slamming the weapons down with all her might. The Nevermore unleashed a surprised squawk as it was knocked off course, slamming to the ground and crushing several smaller Grimm underneath it.

As Jacqueline stood, the girl turned to stare at her, equally as surprised as the Grimm that was already starting to fade under her feet. Jacqueline couldn't help but grin as the younger Huntress's silver eyes examined her. She knew she cut an impressive figure. Standing 6'2", every muscle on her body was like iron, the result of an intensive training regimen that she never stopped. Couldn't stop; it was too important to her survival. With a hammer in each hand and a dead monster dissolving under her boots, she was the stunning image of a warrior through and through.

"Well, don't stop fighting now." she called. Pulling back a hand, she hurled one of her mallets and it shot over the girl's shoulder, smashing in the face of a Beowulf trying to charge her while she was distracted. Springing over to where her weapon landed, Jacqueline scooped it up and kept fighting without missing a beat.

A Beowulf swung its arm at her and she raised one hammer to block the blow. Swinging the other, she struck and snapped its knee, knocking it off-balance so she could pull the other hammer back and crack it across the face.

From behind, a Creep pounced towards her. Activing her weapons' Dust, jets of flame fired to propel her swing faster, allowing her to spin in time to smash the Grimm aside into its allies. Swinging down, she crushed two more Creeps before kicking a Beowulf in the stomach. Hooking her hammers around its neck as it staggered, she used a jet blast to twist and snap it while lifting the beast up and slamming it to the ground.

An Ursa roared and charged towards her and Jacqueline crossed her hammers, stopping its swinging paw and holding it up. Its other paw lashed out and swiped across her front, her Aura protecting her from serious damage. Growling, she twisted to knock the paw she was holding aside and swung her other hammer down and around in a jet-powered arc, slamming up under the bear monster's jaw. Crouching, she swung both hammers out and swept the larger beast's legs, sending it falling. Before it could hit the ground, she leaped up with both hammers raised, bringing them down in powerful smash that crushed the Ursa's head against the pavement.

"Hey." The other Huntress had heeded her advice and gone back to fighting, slicing Grimm apart as fast as she could. In a flurry of petals, she appeared behind Jacqueline. "Thanks for the help. I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose."

"Alliterated. Cute." A Creep bit down on the head of one of Jacqueline's hammers and she lifted it up, swinging it and batting other Grimm aside until it finally lost its grip and sailed away. "I'm Jacqueline Jade."

"Isn't that alliterated too?" Ruby asked in confusion, slicing a Beowulf apart at the torso.

"Yeah, and I'm cute as hell." Jacqueline laughed, spinning and smashing the upper half of the Beowulf Ruby had just bisected, sending it sailing to the side to bash one of its fellows back. "Aren't I?"

"I...I..." Jacqueline chuckled at Ruby's uncertainty.

"Relax, it's a joke. You're a bit young for my tastes." Jacqueline jammed her hammers into an Ursa's chest and flipped it over her head. Ruby caught it on her scythe and sliced it down to the ground. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

"I have friends on the way." Ruby told her. "They wanted me to wait. Too bad the Grimm weren't. What are you doing out here all alone?"

"I'm on the way to my friends." Jacqueline spotted a concentrated group of Grimm and clicked her weapons back together, flashing Ruby a grin, the look of somebody incredibly proud of their fighting who couldn't wait to show off what they could do. "Check this out." Charging towards the batch, she fired both hammerhead's jets, pulling herself into a fiery spin that tore through the shadowy monsters. Grimm bodies flew left and right, hitting the ground and starting to dissolve.

Shadows indicated two Nevermore flying over the battlefield from above. Ruby looked up at them and zipped forward.

"Give me a boost!" she called, landing on the head of Jacqueline's weapons. Laughing, Jacqueline fired its jets and launched the younger Huntress up into the air. Spinning with her scythe outstretched, two Nevermore heads split from their bodies as she passed, flipping upright and using her weapon's recoil to stop her fall.

"Not bad, kid." Jacqueline told her. "You're quite a fighter."

A mighty roar filled the air and the two turned as the wall to one of the houses on the street exploded outward. From within, the lumbering figure of a Beringel Grimm stomped out, sniffing at the air and turning towards the two Huntresses.

"Another one?" Ruby complained, drawing back her scythe. "Wasn't one of these things enough?"

"Ugly bastard, ain't it?" Jacqueline split her weapons back to their separated form and spun them. The Beringel before them was more heavily-armored than the one Ruby had taken down beforehand, indicating it was likely older and stronger. In another sign of its experience, it didn't charge towards them in rage, but instead circled, examining the prey before it carefully.

Ruby dashed to the side, coming around behind the Grimm and swinging her scythe towards its back. Spinning, the Beringel batted her aside before she could strike.

Charging forward while it was distracted, Jacqueline swung her hammers against the gorilla Grimm's leg, but they bounced off without much effect. The Beringel's other leg swung and kicked her in the stomach, doubling her over and knocking the breath out of her. Noticing its other arm raise, she leaped aside as it smashed down, avoiding being crushed.

Spinning as she rose, she slammed her hammers against the Grimm's face, but even with the jet boost her weapons only glanced off its armored cheek. Snarling, the Beringel swiped at her and she ducked under its hand.

Ruby leaped onto its back, slicing with her scythe, but it didn't seem to have any better luck at piercing through. Reaching back behind it, the Grimm almost grabbed Ruby before she dashed off of it with her Semblance.

Spotting that there was a spot of no armor at the Grimm's wrist, Jacqeline swung her hammer against it, earning a solid snap. The Beringel roared in fury as its hand was left danging, swinging its other arm and knocking Jacqueline back before she could dodge. Snatching up a piece of rubble in its good hand, it hurled the block of stone and Jacqueline smashed it apart with her weapons before she could be hit.

From a distance, Ruby took aim with her sniper and started firing, the shots bouncing off the Grimm as it turned to look at her. Taking advantage, Jacquline leaped into the air and fired her hammer's jets, coming down at the Grimm's head in a powerful swing.

Ducking, the Beringel avoided her blow and reached out, its hand wrapping around her leg.

"Shit." Jacqueline only had time for the one word before the Grimm swung her against the ground, hard. Her weapons slipped from her grasp and slid away as it continued to smash her against the street before finally hurling her away, crashing into the side of a building and feeling the wall crack behind her.

As Jacqueline staggered upright, she felt her Aura flickering, running dangerously low. And that meant there was only one chance to turn this around.

"Fuck, I hate this." Taking a deep breath, she channeled the last of her Aura into her Semblance.

Green smoke started to emanate from Jacqueline's body, surrounding her a cloud of emerald mist. Inside, her body started to grow larger and bulkier. Claws extended from her hands as they turned into paws, fur sprouted all across her, her teeth enlarged into fangs, and she felt spikes emerge from her backs. Her vision went red as her eyes started to glow and she unleashed a roar of challenge.

Ruby and the Beringel both looked over in surprise as a sizable bright green-furred Ursa emerged from the smoke, snarling and glaring. Charging forward, she tackled the Beringel and they both rolled across the ground. Managing to shove her off, the Beringel rose and grabbed her paws as she swung at it, the two struggling against each other's strength.

Jacqueline spied a flash of red and realized it was Ruby coming around behind the Beringel. Placing her scythe against the back of its knee where there was no armor, she sliced and cut through the Grimm's leg, sending it stumbling to the side.

Taking her chance, Jacqueline went with the momentum and used it to shove the gorilla Grimm to the ground. Lunging forward, her mouth opened and she sank her fangs into its throat, ripping and tearing angrily. The Beringel thrashed and snarled in outrage, but she refused to let go until it at last went still beneath her.

Staggering back, she spit a few chunks of black from her mouth in disgust, dissolving away as they hit the ground, and roared to the sky in victory. Panting heavily, she turned to look at Ruby, who was staring up at her curiously.

A boom echoed around, followed by an excited yell. Jacqueline looked up to find what she could only assume was one of Ruby's friends sailing in on a hammer, landing in an impact the cracked the pavement beneath her.

"Wha...?" the new arrival looked around with a mix of awe and sadness. "You didn't save any for us?" Two other Huntsmen, or Huntsmen in training if she was to guess, came running up to join them.

"Are you okay?" A young blonde teen with a sword and shield asked Ruby.

"I'm fine, Jaune." she assured him.

"There's still that one." The other new arrival, dressed in green, pointed at Jacqueline.

"You're right, Ren!" the hammer-wielder drew her weapon back. "I got it!"

"Nora, wait!" Ruby's grabbed her friend's arm and thankfully managed to stop her from charging. "She's not a Grimm."

Snorting appreciatively, Jacqueline closed her eyes as her body started to smoke again. Shrinking down, soon she was back to normal, her Aura vanishing entirely. Marching forward, she located her weapons.

"Thanks." She passed by Nora and glanced at the weapon in her hands. "Nice." Leaning down, she picked up her own hammers and returned them to her waist.

"This is Jacqueline Jade." Ruby introduced. "She helped me fight the Grimm that were here. Jacqueline, these are my friends Jaune, Ren, and Nora."

"So I gathered." Jacqueline chuckled. "I was just passing through, heard the commotion. I thought you might need some help."

"Eh..." Ruby waved. "I'm sure I coulda handled it."

"I bet." Jacqueline laughed.

"How did you do that Grimm thing?" Jaune asked.

"Semblance." Jacqueline muttered with a frown. "I don't use it unless I have to. Don't worry, I was in control the whole time." Folding her arms, she leaned back against a building. "So, where you guys heading?"

"Haven." Ruby told her. "We have to get there as soon as possible."

"I see." Jacqueline nodded. "I'm on my way to Menagerie myself. Supposed to meet the rest of my team there." Glancing down at herself, Jacqueline cringed. She was now totally drained of Aura, not a condition one wanted to be travelling in. "On the other hand, I'll have to rest up before I go on." She looked to the team before her. "I don't suppose you guys know anywhere good nearby?"

"We're supposed to be getting pretty close to the next town." Ren informed. "Perhaps you could come along until then."

"Yeah." Jacqueline grinned. "I suppose I shall."

* * *

**Character Profile **

**Name**: Jacqueline "JJ" Jade

**Height**: 6'2"

**Weight**: 192 lbs.

**Age**: 25

**Sexuality**: Gay

**Place of Birth**: Vale

**Based On**: Jekyll & Hyde

**Bio**: Growing up within the kingdom of Vale, Jacqueline Jade was once a quiet, reserved child who had only one ambition in life: become the first Huntress in family history. She studied hard and practiced fighting intently, learning to tap into Aura far earlier than most and even going out to kill a few weaker Grimm on occassion. She often sought to spar and train with other Huntsmen who happened by her neighborhood, and during one such match, as she was near-defeat, her Semblance unlocked. Her parents were left terrified as their daughter transformed into an approximation of the Grimm that served as humanity's most feared adversary. The Huntsman she was fighting, after a moment of similar surprise, tried to assure her parents that Semblances came in all forms and their daughter was no different than before, but in spite of his words, things were never the same again. Jacqueline could never stop seeing how her parents looked at her; the nervous glances they gave, the way they hid whenever she started training or sparring, not wanting to see her monstrous transformation again. Many of the Huntsmen she convinced to spar with her were equally as off-put; a number of such matches ended near-fatally before she convinced her opponent that she was in control. Despair started to set in as she feared even the Huntsmen she so admired would never truly accept her. At the age of 15, she ran away to the kingdom of Vacuo, feeling that she might fit in better with its sometimes questionable populace. Whether she was right or not is up in the air, but it certainly proved a successful career move. Entering the Shade Academy, she became leader of Team JSMN and soared through her schooling with the same determination that had carried her this far, while doing her best to open up and become a more outgoing and friendly person, perhaps hoping that would offset the strangeness of her Semblance. With said Semblance a last resort move, she was forced to train her physical strength and fighting prowess to their peak in compensation. The result was one of the most talented Huntresses in the school's history, leading a team that took the top spot in the Vytal Festival Tournament their senior year. Now a professional Huntress, she travels the world with her team, her closest friends and those she cares about more than any other, and yet, every so often, she can't help but be drawn back to Vale and the family she left behind, always hoping that maybe, someday, they'll finally be comfortable with her.

**Weapon**: _Form Breaker_-Twin long-handled mallets. Each has several slots in the handles that are loaded with Fire Dust. The heads of the hammers have several ports on one side, allowing this Fire Dust to be channeled through as a propulsive jet for faster, harder hammer swings and throws or launching Jacqueline through the air. The two hammers can combine at the handles into a double-ended hammerstaff, allowing more reach and a jet-powered spin.

**Semblance**: _Grimm Tidings_-When Jacqueline's Aura reaches a critically low level, she can choose to sacrifice the rest of it to activate her Semblance and transform into a Grimm of her choice that she has previously killed, remaining in the form for up to 10 minutes at max. In her Grimm state, she becomes more enraged and violent and loses the ability to speak, but overall maintains her mental capacity. She cannot use Aura for protection or healing while in her Grimm state and will be left empty when she returns to normal until she can rest and restore it.


	2. Silk

_"It's not what you are, it's what you don't become that hurts."-Oscar Levant_

* * *

The crowds always bugged him.

Menagerie could be a beautiful place, but it had its downsides. One of them was certainly the sheer amount of Faunus that were packed onto the island. It made carrying a bag of groceries to your house much more of a chore than it should have been.

"The humans must be taught that we will not back down!" Halting at the voice, Silk turned to look. Up on a stool stood a member of the White Fang, a dog Faunus by the look of his grey-furred ears. Silk couldn't stop himself from wandering closer, whether it was anger pulling him or sheer morbid curiosity.

Pushing through the crowd, he again found himself annoyed. Of course, he could've just lowered his hood. People always parted for that.

But he decided to keep it up for the present. The peaked hood was specifically designed to keep his upper face hidden in shadow; he had made it himself. The hoodie it was part of was white and covered with an intricately woven design of black threads. Below them he wore black jeans, the bottoms of the legs laced with numerous dangling threads, giving them an almost hairy appearance. He wore no shoes; never liked the things.

"If you are willing to stand up for yourself, then join us!" the dog-eared Faunus went on. "And we will teach them a lesson they will never forget."

"What, like what happened at Beacon?" Silk spoke up. The Faunus turned to look at him. "Is that your idea of helping our kind?"

"Hey, I had nothing to do with that." The Faunus's smirk made it clear he would've eagerly participated. "But I don't have much sympathy for humans. Every one of them is a lowlife piece of scum who wants nothing more than..."

It's kinda hard to finish your rant when you're falling. This Faunus learned that personally as Silk's anger at him boiled over and his foot swung out, kicking one of the stool's legs and shattering it. The Faunus's words turned into a yell as he toppled to the ground.

Turning without another word, Silk marched away. The White Fang member scrambled to his feet.

"You'll pay for that!" he snapped. Silk held up a hand as he walked, some sort of metallic glove on it, particularly noticable with the pieces reaching down the length of each finger. All but one of those fingers lowered as he kept on his way, already admonishing himself for losing his cool.

Later that night, he was sitting in his house minding his own business. Nearby sat a picture of his team, the three humans who meant the world to him, and who he couldn't stand to hear insulted.

In the image, his partner Jacqueline had her arm on his shoulder, trying to subtly pull his hood down as he held it in place. Beside them, their other teammates, Morgana and Nitro, were holding hands as they grinned at the camera. Silk gave a small smile as he recalled how they had leapt apart moments later, not having realized they were doing that.

How he wished he had some word from them. They had all been scattered in their own corners of the world when things went to hell. The plan was to meet here, at his place in Menagerie, and so he was waiting, hoping that they would find their way. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand to do it.

Looking up, he frowned. His acute senses picked up the sound of voices outside. Standing, he walked to the door and opened it, finding several White Fang members gathered around his home. Among them was a familiar dog-eared man, holding a molotov in his hand.

"Look, fellas, that's not necessary." he said. "Trust me, it'll be better for you all if you just turn around and go crawling back to whatever rock you've been hiding under."

"Yeah?" The dog-eared Faunus snarled. "And let a no-good, human-loving traitor like you humiliate me?"

"Your attitude towards humans already humiliates you." Silk told him. "But if you want me to do it further..." Holding out his arms, his gloves each extended a sharp, thin, needlelike blade from each finger, forming two hands of claws. "I'll gladly do so."

Several of the other White Fang members looked at each other nervously.

"Uh, maybe we should just go, Grey..." a sheep Faunus said nervously. Silk almost laughed. He knew he must be an eerie figure, standing in the dark with his hood and claws.

"Not a chance!" Drawing back an arm, Grey hurled his molotov.

Before Silk could react to it, a gunshot blew it apart midair, the flames landing on the ground and burning out on the pavement. Leaping down from the rooftops, two figures landed on either side of him. Silk glanced at them, one a female cat Faunus, the other a male monkey Faunus.

"Looked like you could use some help." The monkey Faunus said. "Mind if we join in?"

"Hmph. The more the merrier." Silk shrugged.

"Get them!" Grey drew two gleaming short swords and charged, the others following less enthusiastically behind him.

Running to meet his attacker, Silk slid across the ground at the last moment, passing between his legs. Holding back his hands, webbing shot from holes on the underside of his wrists, latching onto the back of Grey's legs. Rising, Silk yanked them out from under him, sending him falling facefirst into the dirt.

Spinning around, he raised his hands and used his claws to block a sword swinging towards his face. Grabbing the Faunus wielding it by the wrist, he spun and flipped them to the ground. Planting his palms on the pavement, he swung a kick to the side to knock another Faunus away.

A goat Faunus charged him with an angry yell and Silk swung a foot up, kicking him under the chin hard enough to launch him into the air. Shooting a web up, it stuck to the Faunus's chest and Silk yanked him down, bouncing him off the ground and kicking him away. He slid to a halt next to the sheep Faunus who had wanted to leave earlier.

As Silk turned towards him, he turned and booked it. Silk smirked as he shot webbing that wrapped around his upper body. There was a slight blue glow around the base of his gloves as the Dust there activated, being channeled down the connecting webline. In a flash, a block of ice formed around the Faunus's body, only his head sticking out.

Silk looked over to where the others were fighting. The monkey Faunus was using a staff, effortlessly downing his opponents with sweeps and twirls. Behind him, the cat Faunus wielded a sword and its sheath in tandem, blocking a swinging sword and smacking its wielder aside.

"Heads up!" Silk called, pulling on the Faunus he still had attached to him. The sheep Faunus let out a scared bleat as the block he was in slid along the ground and Silk released the line, sending him bowling into a group of his comrades as the other two dove aside.

The cat Faunus dodged to the side, leaving a shadowy clone in her wake as a bullet whizzed through where she had been standing. Her sword transformed into a sort of grappling hook and she hurled it, passing through between the Faunus responsible's legs and bouncing up off the ground.

Shooting a web, Silk caught it and pulled, the ribbon tied to her weapon catching the Faunus's leg and flipping him off his feet. Smoothly slicing the line, he sent her weapon back to her and she caught it.

Dashing forward, she knocked back another cat Faunus trying to leap at Silk from behind, landing beside him.

"I know you." Now that he got a good look at her, Silk recognized her. "You're the chieftan's daughter, right?"

"Yeah. Blake Belladonna." She introduced as she used her sword to deflect a gunshot. "And that's Sun Wukong."

"You can call me Silk. Only name I go by." he told her. A bull Faunus tried to swing an axe towards him and Silk ducked under, raising an arm and pushing the attack up so it wouldn't strike Blake behind him. Firing a pair of webs down and catching the Faunus's hooves, Silk ducked past him and leaped up, wrapping them around his horns and leaving him crashing to the ground thus tied. "What are you two doing out here?"

"Looking for these guys." Blake told him, using her clones to dodge past a lizard Faunus and smoothly striking him in the back off the head. "We've been working against the White Fang on the island, trying to stop them."

"Noble goal." Seeing they were about to be surrounded by charging opponents, Silk raised a hand. "Up."

As Blake sprang into the air, Silk knelt and slammed his palm to the ground, creating a burst of ice around him in the form of blunt-ended spikes that struck the incoming Faunus and knocked them away.

"Retreat!" A feathered Faunus with a dangling chin yelled. The others scrambled up, taking off after him, a few of them helping their trapped comrades get free.

"Tsk. Chicken." Silk muttered.

"I think he was a rooster, actually." Blake said as she landed next to him. Silk laughed.

"I like you." he told her.

"You..." The two of them turned as Grey glared at them. Flicking his wrists, his swords split into segments and extended into long whips of blades. "I'll shred you!"

"Sun, go after the rest!" Blake called. "We got this one."

"You sure?" Sun called over. Blake nodded and he ran in the direction of the fleeing members, springing up towards the rooftops to chase after them from above.

Silk and Blake leaped aside as their opponent's whips struck the ground where they had been standing. Silk flung out his hand, Ice Dust sending frozen spikes shooting forward, but Grey retracted his whips, the whole things pulling back and forming into their sword states quickly enough to block the attack.

Blake leaped into the air and fired her weapon down, Grey swinging his swords and deflecting the shots. Swinging one, it turned back to a whip and Blake narrowly dodged aside with a clone before it could strike.

Trying to take advantage of his distraction, Silk shot a web towards his foot, but Grey slashed down and cut through it with his other sword before he could pull his legs out again. Swinging his extended whip around, Silk leaped over it as the blades passed under him.

Blake landed near Grey and swung her blade, the dog Faunus blocking with his own. Shoving her back, he went on the offensive with a flurry of blows, Blake blocking or dodging them as she manuvered around him.

Silk aimed his hand to fire another line and realized he had used too much webbing; his body's reserves were done for. Growling in annoyance, he charged forward.

Hearing him coming, Grey extended his weapons and spun, Blake taking a lash that flung her back before she could avoid it. Retracting them, he blocked and moved back as Silk slashed and stabbed at him with his claws. He had to admit, the man wasn't totally unskilled as a fighter.

As Blake rose again, Grey leaped away and lashed out with a whip. Silk twisted his head aside as it passed by, slicing through his hood. Spinning without missing a beat, Grey used his other whip to wrap around Blake's waist, spinning and flinging her away, smashing through a window and into a building. Silk realized it was his own house and cursed at having to fix the window now.

Grey turned back to him as he snarled with a cocky smirk, but it faded as he took in his foe's appearance. Silk's sliced hood had fallen, revealing a mop of wiry white hair atop his head, along with the feature that the hood was meant to hide. Grey took an unsettled step back as eight dark eyes glared at him from Silk's face.

Silk tapped into his Semblance and in his vision a silvery glow appeared throughout Grey, a particular well in the center of his being and a network that extended out all across him, his Aura, ready to defend against damage. Silk quickly determined how much he had and grinned as his claws glowed a faint blue with the Ice Dust in his weapon.

As he charged forward, Grey swung a whip down and Silk caught it in his claws, pushing it down and freezing it against the ground. He rolled past, swinging his claws against a particularly dense point of Aura in Grey's leg and leaving a trail of ice. His hand came down in an arc to finish the blow, connecting the ice to the ground.

Leaping up, he slashed across Grey's upper back, continuing to focus on similar points of concentrated Aura. The defensive shield absorbed the blow and Silk grabbed the ends of the ice trail left, crouching and connecting them to the ground.

As he moved around his foe, Grey tried to twist and swing his other sword at him. Grabbing the blade, Silk twisted and pressed its flat against Grey's own back, freezing it in place.

"You bas..." Grey's snarl was cut off as Silk's hand clamped over his mouth and trapped it under a layer of ice.

Silk continued to strike at him, leaving ice trails that he connected to the ground and each other in a complex network. The whole time, he kept an eye on the glow within Grey, watching it slowly get dimmer and dimmer with each strike.

Stepping behind him, Silk retracted the claws on his weapons and struck the small of his back with a final four-fingered jab. Grey's Aura absorbed the shock of the blow before it finally broke and flickered out.

Walking out in front of him, Silk stepped back to admire his work. Grey was trapped within dozens of ice trails, almost looking like a web as they held him in place. Nodding in satisfaction as Grey glared at him, he held up a hand, showing his claws weren't out.

"That last blow could've been lethal." he said. "Think on that."

Turning, he looked towards his house as Blake made her way back out. The whole business of trapping Grey had taken only a matter of seconds. As Blake looked at him in surprise, Silk waved.

"It's all good. I got him." he said.

"Watch out!" Silk spun at the combination of Blake's yell and a cracking sound behind him, realizing his mistake too late.

Grey had managed to retract the extended whip, the force of it being pulled back in shattering the ice trapping it and sending out a chain reaction that broke him free. Swinging out an arm without missing a beat, the hilt of his weapon slammed against the side of Silk's face before he could use his Aura, sending stars dancing in his vision as he fell to the ground.

When he regained his senses, Blake was crouched beside him, looking at him in concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. I think so." Silk winced and rubbed at the sore spot. "Missed my eyes by an inch or so, thankfully." He looked around, finding no sign of the man responsible. "Where did he go?"

"Ran. Guess he wasn't up to fighting us any more." Blake shrugged. "I would've gone after him, but I had to make sure you weren't badly hurt."

"Thanks for that." Silk pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head. "I'll make it. And I don't think those punks will be brave enough to come back here."

From above, Sun leaped down to land on his feet beside them.

"Sorry, Blake. They slipped away." he informed.

"Really? All of them?" she asked in surprise.

"They had help." he said simply.

"Ah." Blake nodded. "Ilia. Right. Figures she'd show up." Silk noticed a tone of concern in her voice.

"Don't worry. We'll figure it out." Sun assured.

"Well, thank you both for helping out." Silk offered a hand. Blake shook it, as did Sun, looking to him for the first time since he'd showed back up.

"Whoa. The eyes are cool. Kinda creepy, but cool." he said.

"Sun." Blake hissed. Silk laughed.

"Most people start with creepy and leave it at that." Stepping past them, he walked towards his house. "It was nice fighting with you two. Good luck with your fight against the White Fang."

"You want to help?" Sun asked.

"Love to, but I don't know how long I'll be here." he told them. "My team could show up at any moment." Opening his door, he looked back. "You guys are clearly Huntsmen too. You have a team?"

"Yeah, we both do." Sun told him. Blake seemed to tense up at the question. "We're not on the same one."

"It's a crazy world out there." Silk told them. "Don't stay away from them for too long, you know what I mean? Keep them close."

"Uh...sure?" Sun scratched his head nervously. "Same to you."

"Yeah." Silk frowned. "Same to me."

Waving a last goodbye, he stepped inside and closed the door. Sighing, he looked to the broken window and reached up to touch his torn hood.

"Gotta fix this..." he muttered, moving and locating a basket of thread and a needle. Glancing at the photo of his team nearby, he nodded. "Then...I coming to find you guys."

* * *

**Character Profile**

**Name**: 'Silk'

**Height**: 5'8"

**Weight**: 135 lbs.

**Age**: 26

**Sexuality**: Straight

**Place of Birth**: Menagerie

**Based On**: Arachne

**Bio**: Living in a world full of monsters that are drawn to negative emotions, it's only natural that there are those who seek to remove such things entirely. Though the war to remove artistic expression was lost and people these days tend to name their children after colors, there are still those who subscribe to the other side of the equation. Silk was the child of such people on the Faunus-populated island of Menagerie. His parents not only refused to accept artistic expression of any sort, but even believed in the supression of all emotion, both positive and negative, under the belief that the latter could not exist without the former. Silk was given a plain name and raised to follow in their footsteps, but unfortunately for them...he was terrible at it. He had a major prideful streak and a short temper that constantly served as a source of trouble, not helped by his unique appearance even among Faunus. As he grew, there came a point where his parents realized he would never be what they wanted of him, and so they cast him out, maintaining their blank-faced refusal to express emotion the entire time. Frustrated and furious, Silk wandered the world with no plans, his dark state of mind nearly bringing his end several times were it not for the efforts of a wide variety of Huntsmen who came to his aid. Along the way, he slowly developed a fascination with art, specifically in his case, weaving. After learning of the past war and how people choose names in this day, he decided to change his to something more expressive of himself. Ending up in Vacuo, he elected to become a Huntsman so that he could defend others as had been done for him in his time of need. He met his closest friends and the first people to truly accept him for who he was, in personality and appearance, in his teammates and slowly mellowed out over time, though his old temperamental side remains under the surface, especially prone to being unleashed when said teaammates are threatened or insulted.

**Weapon**: _Weaver Claws_-Twin open-palmed gloves that extend needlelike claws from each fingertip. The base around the wrist is fitted with Ice Dust that can be utilized to enhance Silk's attacks in a number of ways. It can be used to launch dagger-sharp ice spikes as a ranged attack, focused into the fingertips to leave an icy trail behind a slash, concentrated into a burst attack, and even channeled into Silk's natural webbing to further immobilize a bound target. With Aura enhancing them, the claws can also be used to dig into most surfaces for quick climbing of walls and other obstacles.

**Semblance**: _Eye of the Spider_-When active, Silk can visibly see people's souls and the network of Aura that comes from it. Not only does this render stealth useless against him, but it enables him to see specific points of focus for their Aura, letting him wear it down much faster by directing his attacks towards them. Through training, Silk has learned how to expertly gauge the level of Aura a person has remaining as well through its brightness, allowing him to always tell how close an opponent is to defeat.

* * *

(A/N: Forgot to double-check before I uploaded last time, but I went back and looked, and I KNEW I was misspelling Beringel! It always gets me! Fixed that.

You know what I realized while I was writing this? I was thinking back to the spider Faunus we saw in RWBY, Trifa back in Vol 5, and it dawned on me that the only reason she was a spider Faunus in particular was so that they could get Blake tied up in that scene without having to animate characters getting out ropes or awkwardly cutting to an away shot. That's totally it, isn't it? That blew my mind a bit, but I can't unsee it now XD

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this look at the next member of Team JSMN (pronounced Jasmine, just on the off-chance somebody is wondering). Two more characters to go; I'm thinking probably early-to-mid April I'll have Morgana's chapter ready, and then Nitro should go up in late May or early June. The actual JSMN story will begin next year, probably early on in the year assuming nothing comes up to delay me. Reviews are always appreciated (thank you, jamisomersley, for yours; glad you're enjoying), and I'll see you all next time. Mewtwo, out!)


	3. Morgana

(A/N: I said this would be between Vol. 4-5, but it wasn't turning out the way I hoped, so I had to figure out a new angle. This now takes place towards the end of Vol. 4. Also, screw COVID-19 for ruining my planned upload schedule. Anyway, let's go!)

* * *

_"Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich."-Sarah Bernhardt_

* * *

Morgana was trying to sort through Dust Crystals when she noticed the kidnapping.

She had come to Atlas to stock up on one variety in particular. Most kinds of Dust were easy for her to acquire, but Gravity Dust...that one was tricky. It also happened to be her favorite variety, and thus she was brought back to the northern kingdom on a regular basis to acquire more.

As she usually did, she signed on to tackle a few Huntsman missions while she was in the area, sort of her way of saying thank you to the kingdom for their continual business. Then, Beacon fell. She found herself wanting to leave and find her team again, but stuck by obligations to finish the missions that she had started.

Now that those were wrapped up, she was fully stocked and on her way out, quickly, before they decided to lock down the borders or some such nonsense.

"Let go of me!" Morgana glanced up from the silvery-purple handbag she stored Dust in, looking down the street to find a group of what appeared to be Atlas soldiers dragging a white-haired girl along with them. A sizable group of Atlesian Knights followed mechanically behind them.

Morgana quickly ducked into an alley and ran to intercept them. Emerging into the shadows along their path, she found she was close enough to hear more of what was going on.

"You think I'm just going to let you run away?" The soldier at the front growled. "My sister told me all about how you insulted and attacked her at that party. Whether Ironwood wants to admit it or not, you need to be punished for that!"

"I didn't TRY to attack her! It just happened." the girl responded in annoyance. "But as for your sister, you can tell her I meant every word I said!" The soldier shook his head and pulled harder on her wrist, making her stumble.

Morgana took note of one of the other soldiers having a rapier at his waist, not the military's usual weapon. She guessed it was the girl's. Looking at her closer, she almost shook her head at the recognition. She'd heard all about that person, even met some of their family. Weiss Schnee, of all people.

"Let her go, boys." Morgana called as they passed. The soldier at the front jumped slightly, not having noticed her leaning against the building. As they looked her way, she casually tossed a dual set of Dust Crystals, fire and lightning varieties, up and down through the air.

"Just who are you?" the lead soldier demanded once he recovered from his surprise.

"Name's Morgana Violette, darlings." she smiled. "And I'll have you know, it's rude to drag a lady around like that."

"Well, this 'lady' is rude herself." he countered. Weiss punched him in the back and he rolled his eyes, as if she had just proved his point. "And as you can see, we're with the military. I suggest you leave us alone."

Morgana looked to Weiss and met her eyes, seeing a look of desperation in them, hope that Morgana might help her, but worry that she might not. She gave a reassuring smile as she looked back to the man holding her.

"Yes, but it also doesn't take a genius to see that this isn't official business. What you're doing right now is personal, and an illegal misuse of military equipment that I'm sure your superiors would be most interested in." She smiled in satisfaction at the look of nervousness that spread amongst the soldiers' faces. "So I'll say it again. Let her go, boys." Stepping forward, she kept tossing the crystals. "Don't make this difficult."

One of the other soldiers reached up and tapped the leader on the shoulder, but he shrugged him off. She could understand their nervousness. It wasn't hard to identify her as a Huntress. Most people didn't go around casually flipping Dust Crystals.

"Well?" Morgana flipped her long indigo hair over her shoulder, letting it flow down her back. She wore a long, sleeveless lavender dress that had a slit over her right leg and a small window on the left leg. Silver-tipped high-heeled shoes clicked on the pavement when she walked and a belt around her waist had two long daggers resting in it. "What's it going to be?" Glancing back at his friends, the lead soldier scowled and pulled out a Scroll, shoving Weiss to one of his allies.

"Mind your own business next time." he snarled. At his direction, the Atlesian Knights stepped forward and raised their weapons, aiming at Morgana.

"Suit yourself." She flung the two crystals she was flipping high into the air and reached into her bag, drawing out two Gravity Dust crystals and stabbing them into her legs, one through the slit and one through the window. Glowing black lines extended down the veins in her legs as she rose into the air, catching the crystals she tossed and stabbing them into her shoulders. Red and yellow glows extended down the veins in her arms as her right hand sparked with lightning and the left summoned a ball of flame.

Morgana looked down at the soldiers staring up at her in awe and almost laughed. Adjusting her bag so it rested on her back, she tightened its strap to lock it in place.

"Come and get me, boys." she waved. The leader tapped his Scroll in response and the Knights adjusted their aim, firing up at her.

Morgana twisted aside as their bullets whizzed past, holding out her left arm. Fireballs launched down rapid fire, each striking a Knight in the face and blasting them back. The lead soldier kept flicking on his scroll, commanding the knights' movements and sending them forward to circle her and fire up from all directions.

Using the Gravity Dust in her legs, Morgana rocketed higher, avoiding getting hit and charging up a larger fireball in her hand. Hurling it down, the sphere of flame exploded between the Knights, blasting them backwards.

One Knight crouched and sprang up towards her. Morgana dodged aside and caught its arm as it passed, pressing her right hand to its helmet and discharging electricity into it. When it started smoking, she released and dropped it to the ground with a clang.

As the leader continued to try and send his robotic minions at Morgana, Weiss raised a leg and stomped on the foot of the soldier holding her. As he released her with a yelp of pain, a white glyph formed between them, launching him back into his friend who had her rapier.

Spinning, Weiss grabbed her weapon and used a glyph to propel herself out of the group before they could grab her again. As she pointed her sword towards them and its revolver hilt spun, the soldiers drew various bladed weapons and charged. Their leader at last noticed and started to direct the Knights to go after her.

Yanking the Fire Dust out of her arm, Morgana reached back and dropped it in her bag, drawing an Air Dust crystal to replace it.

"Uh-uh. I wouldn't." she called as a green glow spread down her arm, replacing the red. Bringing her legs together, she reversed the Gravity Dust's effect and shot down like a rocket, using the extra weight to smash a Knight on landing. "Your fight is right here."

The first soldier to reach Weiss swung twin short-handled axes towards her head and Weiss formed a black glyph in front of her, stopping him in his tracks. Dashing past, she struck him in the back with her rapier, his Aura protecting him as he was launched into the air.

Spinning, four white glyphs appeared behind Weiss and launched chunks of ice, smashing into the next set of soldiers and knocking them off their feet. One took a knee and aimed a rifle at her and Weiss deflected the bullets with her sword, forming a trail of glyphs that pulled her forward to sweep him off his feet as she passed.

The Atlesian Knights aimed and fired at Morgana as she held up her left hand, forming a whirlwind around her that flung the bullets away. The soldier directing them jumped back as one pinged off the pavement at his feet and growled, flicking a new order on his scroll.

The Knights placed their guns away and their arms shifted into blades as they charged her. Drawing one of her daggers, lightning coursed down over the blade from the hand she held it with as she blocked the first slash.

Twisting aside, Morgana slapped the bot in the back with her other hand, unleashing a gust that flung him away. Two charged at her and she flew into the air with her Gravity Dust, causing their blades to stab into each other. Landing in front of another, she ducked under and inside its slash, stabbing her dagger into it and unleashing voltage that fried the machine's systems.

A female soldier drew a long katana and dashed around Weiss, slashing from all angles as the heiress did her best to defend. A yellow-tinted clocklike glyph appeared under her and she landed a flurry of blows with Time Dilation, sending the soldier collapsing in defeat.

As more Knights closed in on Morgana, she clasped both hands together and spun in place, using both Dust types together to form a lightning-laced whirlwind around her. The robots were lifted up by the winds, tumbling about in the vortex and being zapped by the discharges within.

As Morgana let up, Knight remains rained down around her and she held her dagger out, its blade splitting as the weapon folded out into a miniature crossbow. From the hilt, a bolt was pushed up into place, sparking with electricity from the Dust Morgana channeled as she fired it, piercing straight into the head soldier's scroll.

Dropping the device in surprise, he glared at her as she smirked. As he dashed away, Morgana looked to see how Weiss was doing. The soldier with the twin axes had risen behind her and drew back one of his weapons to hurl at her back.

Holding a hand back, Morgana used a blast of wind to propel her self forward, slamming a gravity-boosted kick into the soldier's face, sending him flying up and crashing through the window of a building.

"Sorry about that!" Morgana called as an elderly lady stuck her head on the window in annoyed confusion at the soldier laying in her room.

Meanwhile, the remaining soldiers staggered together as Weiss faced them. Stabbing her weapon down, a shining glyph appeared and a glowing white Boarbatusk charged out of it, curling into a ball and barreling forward. The soldiers yelled and tried to dive aside, but they were unable to get out of the way before the boar Grimm smashed through, sending them flying.

"Like bowling pins." Morgana laughed, floating over to hover beside Weiss with a hand on her hip. "You got some style, Schnee."

"Thank you." Turning, she sighed and offered a smile to her savior. "You too, Ms. Violette."

"Mrs., actually." Morgana corrected. "But you can just call me Morgana, dear. No need for formalities here."

"Okay then...Morgana." Weiss looked to the Dust in her arms and legs in interest. "How are you using that much Dust? Doesn't it hurt?"

"For most people, probably." Morgana shrugged. "For me...it kinda tingles." From above, the elderly lady was starting to yell down at them and more windows around were opening. Morgana glanced up and pursed her lips. "If you were indeed running as that guy said, I'd suggest we move out, before more...competent forces show up."

As she turned to head down the street and Weiss made to follow, the ground shook slightly. The two halted as a Paladin emerged around the corner, its cockpit open to show the head soldier who had been directing the Knights.

"You're gonna regret interfering!" he snarled as it closed and the mech's guns readied.

"Well, good." Morgana pulled the Lightning Dust from her arm and replaced it with a deep blue crystal, changing the glow in her arm. "I was worried it had ended just as I got warmed up. You with me, Schnee?"

"Right behind you." Weiss nodded, her rapier ready.

As the two of them raced down the street towards it, the Paladin opened fire with its energy cannons, the blasts tearing up the pavement as the two dodged aside. Holding a hand behind her, water began to form behind Morgana. As she reached the mech, she struck a palm against it, forming a whirling tunnel of air that made it stagger back.

"Keep it distracted!" she called, moving back.

"Got it!" Weiss agreed, forming a trail of glyphs that carried her under the mech where she could strike at its feet repeatedly with her rapier. Swinging a leg, it tried to kick her, but she dodged away from it.

Taking aim, the Paladin launched a collection of missiles and Weiss formed a red glyph in front of her, launching fireballs that blasted them out of the air. The mech leaped and landed in front of Weiss, the shockwave of its impact making her stumble back as it pulled up an arm and made to punch at her.

Before the blow could land, Weiss raised her sword and a glowing glyph formed, a large armored fist emerging to match the Paladin's blow, crunching the mech's arm in on itself.

"I got him!" Weiss watched Morgana fly past, pulling a tidal wave of water behind her. "Get some ice ready!"

The soldier turned to look up at the cresting wave before him in fear, raising the mech's good arm. Channeling the last of the Gravity Dust crystals in her legs, Morgana slammed feetfirst into the machine's fist and smashed it, yelling as she brought the wave crashing down.

Landing on the ground, she used Air Dust to spin the mass of liquid into a water spout, lifting the Paladin up as it spun through the vortex.

"Now!" she called. Weiss drove her rapier into the ground and a giant white glyph appeared under the water, Ice Dust channeling through it to freeze the whole thing solid. The Paladin was left sticking half out of the side, its cockpit opening and the head soldier falling out and landing on the ground before Morgana.

Looking up at her, he growled and rose to his feet, only for a glyph to form under him and launch him up headfirst into the Paladin's cockpit door with a resounding clang, knocking him out cold. Morgana glanced back at Weiss and she lowered her rapier.

"He had that coming." she shrugged.

"No arguments here." Morgana reached up and pulled the Water and Air Dust from her arms, the last bits of the crystals crumbling away. "Dang..." She flexed her hand as the wounds left from the crystals healed over. "I think I have enough Aura left..."

Holding out a hand, the air swirled in around it. In a flash, an Air Dust crystal appeared in her palm. Looking around, she located a pool of water that hadn't been pulled in with the rest and dipped her fingers in it, the liquid glowing and condensing into a Water Dust crystal.

"Wow..." Weiss watched in amazement as she placed them away in her bag. "I guess you don't have to buy a lot of Dust."

"Not much." Morgana agreed. She nodded her head to the side. "C'mon. Let's get out of here." As they passed the trapped mech, Morgana kicked at a piece of scrap from one of its broken arms. "He's gonna have a fun time explaining this to his superiors."

"I just hope he leaves me out of it." Weiss said.

"If he brings you up, he also has to explain why he was fighting you." Morgana pointed out. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. Besides...you'll be long gone by then." She looked at her. "You are leaving Atlas, right?"

"Yes." Weiss nodded. "I have to."

"No need to explain." Morgana smiled. "I've met your father once. I can imagine why you would want to get away from that man." Weiss frowned. "Hard to imagine what it must be like, having family like that."

"I need to get to my sister." Weiss said. "And then at some point, back to my team." Morgana laughed.

"You and me both." she agreed. Searching in her bag, she located a pen and notebook, quickly writing down an address. "Here." She ripped the sheet free and held it out. "Try this. There's a pilot there I've worked with on occassion. He's not shy about doing things under the table; so long as you can pay him, I bet he'd take you out of the kingdom, no questions asked."

"Really?" Weiss examined the address and looked up to Morgana. "You're so...I don't know how I can thank you for all you've done."

"You don't have to." Morgana smiled. "You needed help and I gave it. That's reward enough." She held out a hand and Weiss slowly took it. "Take care, Schnee."

As she walked past, Weiss called after her.

"Aren't you leaving Atlas?" she asked. "Don't you want a ride too?" Morgana glanced back.

"He doesn't usually head the same direction I'm going now." she said. "I'll find my own way." She grinned. "But thanks for asking. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." She took a step back. "And if you ever happen to find yourself stuck in the desert in Vacuo, look for the Oasis! Tell them you're a friend of Morgana."

"What's the Oasis?" Weiss asked.

"Home." Morgana nodded. "Now, you go find yours. Your real one." Turning away once more, she soon disappeared into the night. Hearing a commotion back from the direction they had come, Weiss quickly took off towards the address Morgana had given her, ready to get the heck out of Atlas.

* * *

**Character Profile**

**Name**: Morgana Violette

**Height**: 5'5"

**Weight**: 128 lbs.

**Age**: 26

**Sexuality**: Straight

**Place of Birth**: Vacuo

**Based On**: Morgan le Fay

**Bio**: In the desert of Vacuo, there exists a strangely fertile plot of land, hidden away behind massive rock formations and constantly shifting sand dunes that house a wide variety of Grimm. This is the Oasis, and for hundreds of years the Violette family has lived there as its caretakers and guardians, performing upkeep, fightng off the occassional Grimm incursion, and housing travelers who stumble their way. Morgana Violette is the oldest child of the latest generation, and the first in family history to leave (inspiring her younger sister to do so as well several years later). As a child, Morgana was enthralled by the tales told by travelers who passed through the Oasis of the outside world, the technological advances and lavish lifestyles that could be yours if you had the wit and talent to succeed. Bored of her family's simple life, she left as a teen against her parents' wishes, but success proved harder than expected. Morgana failed in a number of jobs and soon found herself broke. Hungry and homeless, she was caught in a Grimm attack and would've died for certain had a Huntsman not stepped in to save her. In awe of his selflessness, fighting to save somebody like her who he didn't even know despite being tired and low on both Aura and ammo, Morgana charged in to help him and managed to unlock her Semblance, forming Dust Crystals out of the Earth that the Huntsman used to defeat the Grimm attacking them. Morgana now had a clear path in front of her to the success she had sought, selling Dust that she made for much cheaper prices than the typical brands, but she no longer had the spark to pursue it. Instead, she wanted to be more like the hero who saved her, and so entered Shade Academy to train and become a Huntress. She and her new team graduated with honors and Morgana met the love of her life, and it wasn't long before she had to return to the Oasis with the news that she was getting married. After reconciling with her family, she continues to strive to live up to the example of the hero who changed her life, a man who to this day she still doesn't know the name of.

**Weapon**: _Fata Aculeus_-While Morgana generally prefers to fight by channeling Dust directly into her body, she carries a set of twin long daggers for when the situation calls for it. They can each transform into a miniaturized crossbow for range and can be enhanced by whatever elemental Dust she is wielding at the time.

**Semblance**: _Dust to Dust_-By touching an element and channeling her Aura into it, Morgana can create Dust Crystals of most elemental varieties, including Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Ice, Lightning, and even Hard-Light. The only Dust that Morgana cannot create, or at the least has never figured out how to make, is Gravity. Her Semblance also gives her an innate resilience against Dust, allowing her to channel large amounts of it into her body without the severe strain that would usually accompany such a task.

* * *

(A/N: I don't know for sure if the Atlesian Knights in canon have the arm blades seen in the Black Trailer anymore; at least, the newer model we've had since Vol. 2 has never shown them, despite multiple points where it would've been more effective to use them rather than sticking to their guns. I've included them anyway because they're supposed to be a superior model and, quite frankly, removing their close-range capability is an extremely stupid downgrade. If they are indeed gone, Atlas blundered that one.

Anyway, hope you have enjoyed the introduction of Team JSMN's third member. I apologize for the delay, but my internet access is limited and the coronavirus pandemic cut it heavily; I was not able to upload this until now. Thank you for your patience, be sure to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter and character, and I'll see you...right now. I stuck to my schedule of writing in spite of not uploading, so I have Nitro's chapter ready and am posting it right now. Let's move over to the team's final member...)


	4. Nitro

_"No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true."-Nathaniel Hawthorne_

* * *

The bartender was annoyed with him.

To be fair, the constant tapping would get on most people's nerves. When he had first started it, the bartender had thought Nitro was trying to get his attention, but Nitro promised him he wasn't. It was a nervous tic, he said. Not the real answer, but simpler and easier to explain.

The tapping matched up with the flow of the music coming out of a jukebox in the corner, a soft melody played on the harp. Nitro had been the one to start it. You might think that the slower nature of his fingers tapping the wooden bar would make it less offensive, but somehow, he suspected it made it even more bothersome.

The sound of a motorcycle drew his attention and he glanced over his shoulder to watch as a young Huntress entered. Blonde hair, purple eyes, a brown coat over her clothing. He noted a robotic arm on her right side.

As she took a seat down at the other end of the bar, Nitro listened to her order a water and then question the bartender about the location of somebody. He could swear he caught the name Raven Branwen, and that made him watch her more intently.

More motorcycle noises outside. Nitro looked back again as the door opened and several people entered. They had shabby clothes, studded with spikes, and most of them looked like reptilian Faunus. Nitro kept his eyes on them.

The leader, a purple-wearing man with two green scimitars strapped to his waist, waved to two of his members, both of them massive beings, one a dark-skinned bald male, the other a light-skinned female with stringy black hair. The two took up positions on either side of the door and crossed their arms.

Nitro was no small guy himself; he was quite tall, with broad shoulders and heavy muscles, but these two were a good foot taller than even he. As they stood watch, the leader's eyes roved over the bar until they landed on the Huntress.

Nitro watched him approach, the rest of his gang following behind him, for that was surely what they were. He leaned on the bar next to the Huntress and said something Nitro couldn't pick up. The Huntress glared at him before turning and telling him to mind his own business.

Lifting his glass, Nitro swallowed the last of his water and stood, moving towards the jukebox. He could feel the eyes of the two goliaths at the door watching him as he paid it, bringing up a selection screen.

Glancing back, he watched the Huntress rise and push past the gangsters, moving towards the door. The leader grabbed her arm and she spun, pulling back a fist.

Nitro pressed his choice and a fast, loud, rocking track began to thump through the bar. The change was so drastic it immediately pulled all eyes towards him. Turning, he marched forward as the Huntress pulled herself free of the gang leader's grip.

Ignoring them, he stepped between the leader and the Huntress, looking at her and smiling.

"Hello there." He nodded. Her eyes quickly sized him up, taking in his dark grey suit, brighter, more silvery grey hair and fairly thick, curly beard of the same color, and the weapon strapped to his back: a large rifle-like gun that gleamed silver with golden yellow accents. Reaching up, he adjusted a sky blue tie on his suit slightly.

"What do you want?" The Huntress asked warily.

"Your name." Nitro told her. "Mine's Nitro."

"...Yang." She looked past him at the gang leader, who was tapping his foot impatiently. Nitro turned to face him.

"Do you mind?" he growled. "I was in the middle of something."

"Something that's likely to get you beaten." Nitro smiled. "I don't suggest you get back to it." The guy appeared stunned for a moment before laughing.

"You must be joking." A forked tongue flicked out of his mouth and his reptile-slitted eyes narrowed. "Don't you know who we are? We're Hydra Venom. We rule this area. I'm Drake, the king around these parts." Nitro stared with an unchanging expression. "Now move along, unless..." He opened his mouth and hissed, showing off a pair of fangs from his upper teeth. "You want a taste of my poison."

"A tongue you split yourself, reptile contacts, attachments to the teeth..." Nitro gazed at the scaly patches on his skin. "And some mediocre tattoo work. You don't fool me. You're no snake, and you don't have any poison." His eyes flicked to the swords the guy carried. "Especially not on those. Really cheap paintjob. Overall, you make a mockery of legitimate Faunus." The whole time Nitro talked, his hand continued to tap on his own leg, picking up its pace from the slow movements of when he had been sitting at the bar. "Shame on you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Drake snarled. "I guess we'll just have to show you." He opened his mouth again to show off his fangs as he crouched. Nitro glanced back at Yang.

"I didn't need help." she told him.

"Oh, I know." He smiled. "But somebody has to balance out the rude reception you've gotten in this fine establishment." Whirling, he swung a fist out, clocking Drake across the jaw and sending him flying off his feet. The fang fittings on his teeth flew free and bounced across the floor as he rubbed his jaw.

"Get them!" Drake snarled, leaping up and running for the door. "Make them pay!"

As the rest of his gang drew various weaponry, knives, swords, a few guns, Nitro reached back and drew his own weapon.

"Typical. Flees as soon as his scare tactics don't work." He looked to Yang. "Up for a tag-team rumble?" The Huntress smirked before grinning.

"Against these clowns?" On her left wrist, a bracelet extended into a gauntlet, while her robotic arm clicked a shotgun attachment of its own out. "Why not?" Grinning back, Nitro gripped the gun's handle and pulled it down to the weapon's end, shifting it up and pulling. A long broadsword was drawn free, while the rest of the gun folded out into a large shield, a lightning bolt design surrounding the edges while the middle held the image of numerous snarling King Taijitu together in a mad tangle, twin heads glaring as yellow eyes gleamed.

"Then let's do it." he nodded.

One of the gang, getting impatient, leaped forward and stabbed a knife towards Nitro's neck. Before it could impact, a bolt of electricity zapped out into its tip, sending the wielder flying back with a yell of shock.

Spinning around, Nitro charged forward with his shield held out, bullets bouncing off of it as their enemies fired at them. Yang followed behind him, and as he slammed one of them back with a shield bash, she rolled under another sword swing and came up beside the attacker, swinging her fist and punching him in the cheek.

As her fist connected, her gauntlet let off a burst of energy, flinging him aside into several of his allies hard enough to knock them off their feet. Raising her robotic arm, she blocked another blade swinging at her face and rammed a knee into its wielder's stomach, making him stagger back. Grabbing his arm, she spun him to the side, smashing another gang member trying to aim a pistol in the arm and making the weapon sail from his grip.

Nitro spun and swept with the flat of his sword, taking several people's legs out from under them. Rising without missing a beat, he leaped over them, striking another behind them with his shield and knocking them back into one of the two standing by the door. He flung his smaller ally back towards the fight, making no move to join himself.

The same gang member that he had zapped before was sneaking up behind him, but halted as Nitro thrust his shield up suddenly right in front of him, recoiling instinctively at the terrible visage imprinted upon it. Pulling it aside, Nitro thrust the hilt of his sword forward to slam into the man's forehead, knocking him out cold.

Yang dodged past a gangster trying to strike her with a metallic bat and leaped away as he spun and swung down. Punching, she sent long-range shots forward to strike him and several others, blasting them down as their Auras protected them from major damage.

One gangster pulled a set of throwing knives from his coat and hurled one at Yang, who caught it in her robotic hand and smirked as she crushed it. Hurling another, Yang twisted aside, the blade slicing a small strand of her hair as it passed by. Growling, Yang blocked as he leaped with two daggers drawn back, holding his arms up with one hand. Drawing back her other, she fired a kinetic shot straight into his crotch. He stumbled back, gasping and clutching the spot as she swung a backhand punch into his jaw, knocking him aside into a table to slump to the floor.

One gang member snapped a whip towards Nitro and he held up his sword, the whip wrapping around it. Pulling with his strength, he spun and struck with his shield as they were yanked towards him, flipping the culptrit through the air and letting him crash down into a set of chairs, smashing them underneath.

As he stood unsteadily and turned, Nitro grinned, electricity flickering through his beard like a storm cloud.

"Retreat!' The gang member called, decided they'd had enough. As they ran for the door, he looked to the two members who had been standing there. "Komodo, Gila, waste them!" The two stepped silently forward, both reaching back and drawing hefty gatling guns from their back.

"Watch it!" Lightning sparked down Nitro's legs and he dashed to Yang, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her along as he leaped over the bar. He held his shield up as Komodo and Gila fired, bullets bursting through the wood and bouncing off. After a few moments, they let up, uncertain if they had got their target.

"I think we're outgunned." Yang whispered. "Gonna have to get in close."

"We'll need cover." Nitro's shield folded up and he inserted the sword, clicking it into rifle mode. He nodded towards the bar. "It's weakened. Think you can make use of it?" Yang grinned and nodded. "Then go!"

Leaping up, Nitro aimed and fired, two electrical blasts striking the goliaths' weapons and zapping them. While they were distracted, Yang used a blast from her gauntlet to shatter the last connections of the bar. Nitro drew back his own fist as she did and they both punched it, sending it flipping forward to slam into the two and smash them back out of the bar.

Charging after, Nitro leaped outside as they both stood. Handles extended out from the center of the guns' barrels and they both gripped them, the rest of the weapons folding into extra-large hammers. Behind them, waiting on the road, was the rest of the gang and their leader, trying to insert new snake fang fittings into his mouth.

"Can you take one of them?" Nitro asked, placing his weapon on his back.

"Please." Yang ejected shells from her gauntlet and reloaded it. "You'd be shocked at what I can do, sparky."

"Really?" Nitro laughed at the sheer awfulness of it and raised his fists. "Alright then, blondie. Let's see how stunned I am." he told her before charging forward to meet the male, Komodo. Yang ran alongside him, heading for his partner Gila.

Nitro circled Komodo with fists raised, dodging aside as he swung his hammer towards him. His hands crackled with electricity as he drove a punch into the small of his opponent's back, making him stagger. Spinning around, Komodo growled and swung at him again, Nitro hopping back out of the way.

As he continued to avoid Komodo's blows, he was grinning at the frustrated expression on his foe's face. Komodo clearly didn't expect somebody of Nitro's size to be so nimble or used to fighting agiley, but with the electric energy surging through his legs, he was dancing circles around him, landing blows whenever he saw an opening and only growing more and more charged.

Meanwhile, Yang jumped to the side and swung her robotic arm down to deflect a swing of Gila's hammer, landing a kinetic powered punch in retaliation. She followed up with several such blows to the larger woman's midsection before being forced to move back as a wide hammer swing almost clipped her. She kept her distance and fired ranged shots as Gila pursued her, but she wasn't quite so quick about it as Nitro. Gila managed to catch her at last with a powerful hammer swing that sent her crashing to the ground, skidding across the dirt and kicking up dust.

In the brief moment that Nitro glanced at her, seeing her rising up as Gila came at her, Komodo saw a possible opening and raised his hammer high, swinging down as hard as he could. Holding up a hand, Nitro caught his wrist, electricity surging through his own arm muscles as he stopped the blow.

Komodo grunted and pushed against him, but Nitro twisted and slowly pulled his arm to the side. Drawing back his other fist, he slammed it into Komodo's gut as hard as he could, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

At the same time, Gila swung her hammer at Yang and she caught her wrist in the same manner, her robotic arm's grip locking on it. Yang's hair surged with a fiery glow and her eyes became red as she pulled back and drove her fist into Gila's knee, knocking her into a stagger.

Nitro swung blow after blow into Komodo's chest, shocks flowing into the larger opponent as he was driven back. Grabbing his wrist, he let loose a surge into it and Komodo's hand flew open in reflex, his hammer falling away. Nitro slammed his forehead into Komodo's chin, driving him backwards before catching his arm.

Yang unleashed a flurry of powerful punches against Gila, the gang woman's eyes widening at the sheer force of them as she was pelted. As she tried to raise her hammer, Yang punched it back down before kicking her back, her grip slipping as her weapon fell to the ground. Yang grabbed her arm the same time Nitro was grabbing Komodo's.

Looking to each other, they both nodded and pulled, spinning their opponents around before hurling them at each other. Komodo and Gila collided head to head with an impact so hard Nitro could've sworn he felt a shockwave from it, collapsing to the ground and groaning as they tried to regain their senses.

"Guess they really got a-head of themselves, huh?" Nitro grinned. "Eh?"

"Keep trying." Yang chuckled. "You'll get the Yang of it."

"Let's get out of here!" Drake called as Nitro and Yang both looked his way. He and his gang revved their bikes and hit the road, Komodo and Gila soon following as they at last collected themselves.

Nitro looked back at the bartender gazing pitifully at them from the ruined front of his establishment. Digging in his pocket, he quickly counted some lien and tossed it to him.

"Apologies." he nodded. "That should take care of the damages."

"Welp..." Yang turned to face Nitro. "Thanks for the help. That was fun and all, but I've really got to be on my way."

"That you do." Nitro followed Yang as she walked towards her own bike, passing and climbing onto his own silver model past that, lightning bolts streaking the sides. Yang looked at it and shook her head.

"Is ANYTHING not lightning-related with you?" she asked.

"Nope." Nitro shook his head.

"Man, you should meet my friend Nora." Yang said. "Or maybe not." As Nitro pulled a helmet off his handlebars and held in his hand, beginning to tap it, Yang frowned. "There was another reason you helped me, wasn't there?"

"There was." Nitro nodded. "I heard you asking about Raven Branwen. What do you want with her?" Yang's expression became uncertain, as if she wasn't quite sure how much she wanted to tell him. At last, she shrugged.

"I'm her daughter." she said. "I need to find her."

Nitro quickly reappraised her. The hair color had thrown him off at first, but now that she mentioned it and he looked, he could definitely see it.

"There is a family resemblance." he said, with a sad shake of his head. "You poor child."

"Do you know where I can find her tribe?" Yang asked. Nitro pointed to a road that curved around behind the bar, venturing into the forest.

"See that road?" he asked. Yang nodded. "Travel down that a good fifty, sixty miles and you'll be in the area they've been hanging out lately. I don't know the exact location, but you'll find it. You come across a place called Just Rite, you know you're on the...rite track."

"How do you know that?" Yang asked curiously.

"I used to be one of them." Nitro placed his helmet on his head and fastened it.

"Not anymore?" Yang asked.

"Never again." Nitro told her firmly. Kicking the stand up, he fired up his bike to ride off.

"One more thing." Yang called. He stopped and looked back to her. "If you're not with them anymore, how do you know where they are now?"

"Because they'd love to see me dead if they could." Nitro almost smiled. "Have to know where they are to avoid them, don't I?" Giving her a last nod, he turned away. "Good luck, Yang. You'll need it."

Revving up, he took off down the road that Yang had come from, shaking his head as memories of the old tribe flowed into his head. He puzzled over why he had bothered to help Yang after hearing the name of one of his former tribe's members, and it wasn't until he reached the port that he finally realized the answer.

"Because she needed help...and Morgana would've given it." Nitro chuckled to himself. "She really is rubbing off on me." Parking his bike, he started hunting for a ship to Menagerie, ready to reunite with his wife and teammates.

* * *

**Character Profile**

**Name**: Nitro Storme

**Height**: 6'6"

**Weight**: 264 lbs.

**Age**: 26

**Sexuality**: Straight

**Place of Birth**: Mistral

**Based On**: Zeus

**Bio**: Nitro Storme was born as a member of the Branwen Tribe of bandits, a traveling band that roamed over the Mistral landscape, often targeting travelers and even sometimes entire villages. Nitro was trained to fight and kill from an early age and participated in these activities alongside his family, but over time, Huntsmen and Huntresses became a bigger and bigger problem for the tribe. Eventually, they came up with a plan: they would send young members of the right age out to the various Huntsmen academies of the world, where they would learn the skills needed to combat the very people that were teaching and learning alongside them. Nitro was selected and sent to the Shade Academy, where he flew through the entrance exams with flying colors and became part of Team JSMN. Over time, Nitro started to struggle with his mission to become a Huntsman killer. After falling in love with his partner Morgana, he wrestled with what his future was to be and eventually determined that he had no desire to follow the tribe's directives any longer. It took him even longer to come out and admit to his teammates what his past and true purpose at the academy had been. They were, of course, horrified and stunned, but after a lengthy discussion, they came to accept that he really did want to change for the better. Nitro became disgusted at his previous casual disregard for human life and swore he would never take another, sticking to killing only Grimm. He abandoned his mission, graduated with flying colors, and eventually proposed to Morgana. The pair's wedding was almost ruined when Branwen Bandits crashed it attempting to assassinate him, but they had no idea what they were getting into. Soundly thrashed by his team, Nitro refused to kill them in spite of his fears they would return, and instead sent them home with a message that if they didn't come near him, he would not come near them. To this day, he has avoided the tribe that was once his family and has struck true to his promise to never take a life again, determined to do his new family proud.

**Weapon**: _Thunder Aegis_-A broadsword and shield combination set. The shield's design was intended to cause fear and uncertainy in foes, and the snake eyes of the Taijitu are capsules filled with Lightning Dust. The shield folds up and combines with the sword to form a powerful electric rifle, using either Nitro's Semblance or the Lightning Dust as ammo, depending on what he feels is needed. The Dust can also be triggered manually via his Semblance even in shield form should the situation call for it.

**Semblance**: _Kinetic Charge_-With every movement Nitro makes, an electrical impulse is generated within his body. The more and faster he moves, he more power he makes. This energy can be channeled into his muscles to increase his speed and strength, focused into weapons, or discharged directly from his body as bolts of lightning. If Nitro stays completely still for more than a quick moment, he starts to become sluggish and drained, and too long will cause his body to begin shutting down. For this reason, Nitro does not sleep, making up for it with the constant charge his Semblance produces.

* * *

(A/N: And that is that. You have now met my entire team of OC RWBY characters. I hope you all have enjoyed. I spent quite a bit of time coming up with these guys and their arsenal, abilities, and stories. I wanted them all to feel genuine, to draw from concepts and ideas that the RWBY franchise has presented, but deliver their own unique twists on them. You might be able to tell by the general timeframe these take place in and what ideas they clearly draw from, but I started conceptualizing during the last couple episodes of Volume 5, so it's been over two years now of considering different ideas and figuring out what the team would be all about. I'm really proud of how they all turned out. You have no idea how much I wished I had drawing skills XD If anybody wants to make art of these four, by all means, do it and tell me where I can see it. I'll love you forever.

In any case, Jacqueline, Silk, Morgana, and Nitro will appear again next year in the actual JSMN story. I don't know how long it's gonna be, how many chapters or anything, but I do want to make one thing apparent right now. Don't expect Team RWBY to be in it. The reason I put them in these trailers was to answer that obvious question, "What would it be like if these guys met Team RWBY?", right away without having to shoehorn it into the story. In fact, very few characters from RWBY will appear. JSMN's story won't deal directly with Salem or any of that stuff; one of the great things about a fictional universe like RWBY is that it's vast enough to encompass so many stories, and JSMN's will be their own. While there will be some connections, they have their own problems and their own villains to deal with, who you'll meet once the story is underway. I hope you all are interested, this has been a very experimental project for me, somewhat meant to be a test of my writing skills, and I have a lot of ideas for just where this story will go. If you are indeed still down to read that, I will see you next year. Mewtwo, out!)


End file.
